Monday, October 13, 2008

Greetings! As you can see from the above photo I finishedoff Lizzie Kate's Bippity Boppity Boo. Another cute andeasy design. The best sort for stitching in the uncertainlight of hospital rooms. Today I added the spider buttonthat I had in my stash, although I decided not to add thetwo candy corn buttons that are also suppose to go onhere. I thought it might be a little too much for such asmall design. Someday, if I ever get all the necessarysupplies together (plus some nerve) I might make thisinto a pin keep.

After finishing Bippity (etc) I was in need of a newproject to occupy my fingers. With little time torummage in my stash I decided to grab my firstWaxing Moon Design and give it a go. I'd justgotten the necessary threads for it, and I had a cutof material all set to stitch on. I chose to stitchHalloween Short Stack. I took it with me to thehospital and after a bit of catch-up-chat with MomI got out my stuff and commenced to stitch. Andthen I ran into a problem.

The design is stitched on a dark blue material. The chart recommends using three strands of floss. Idon't recall the last time that I stitched with three strands,but I do know that it was on Aida cloth, so we're talkingabout 15 or more years ago. After stitching two short linesof crosses I stopped in disgust. I did not like the look ofmy stitches at all.

I don't know if it's just that I need to use my magnifier tosee my stitches properly (and admittedly the light in myMom's hospital room isn't the best for fiddly stitching) orif I need to work on my technique for using three strandsof floss, but either way I ended up putting the project down.

Two days later I was heading to the hospital again, and againI had a new project in my bag. Got settled in my chair, andwith Mom watching closely I pulled out my new project. And then the debate began. The design is stitched with abright magenta thread and I chose a nice cut of pink evenweave to stitch it on. But then I started second guessingmy fabric colour. Did it really compliment the thread, ordid it turn everything into an ad for Pepto Bismal?

Mom and I dithered back and forth for awhile, and I evenput the whole thing back into my bag intending to rethinkmy choice. But after awhile we decided to revisit theproblem, and so out the thread and the fabric came again.Upon careful reconsideration we decided that maybe thetwo colours just might work together okay after all, andso I started to stitch.

The fabric is 32 count, as recommended on the chart.After half an hour of stitching I sat looking (peering) atwhat I had stitched thus far, and decided that I didn'tlike my cross stitches at all!! Again, perhaps the lightis just not good enough for such a small (for me) count.Perhaps I would need my magnifier to stitch thisdesign as well. Once again the project got stuffed backinto my bag to be reconsidered at a later date.

So my next visit to Mom at the hospital was Saturday.I approached my stash with trepidation, and decidedthat after two aborted efforts my confidence would notrecover from a third misfire. Therefore I needed to pickout something that would be a sure fire success. Sowhat did I choose???

A Little House Needleworks design, of course. Stitched on28 count Jobelan, using Crescent Colours threads. This isa chart and thread set and is one of their Saltbox Scripturesdesigns. Does anybody know...does Saltbox refer to thestyle of house in the design??? Just wondering. As you cansee it's been smooth sailing with this one. I am relieved tofinally have something to stitch, and I'm loving the designand the thread colours used to stitch this.

Does anyone else out there go through this sort of thingwhen choosing a new project???

Since it just wouldn't be a post of mine without some sortof stash enhancement, here are the latest additions to myCrescent Colours collection, courtesy of Stitching Bits andBobs monthly bits service. Pretties!

This has been a long weekend here in Canada as wecelebrate our version of Thanksgiving. Due to thingsbeing somewhat hectic around here lately (and I'mnot just talking about my frantic attempts to choosea new cross stitch project) I had pretty much forgottenall about it and had no plans to cook. Mom wouldstill be in hospital, and I would be spending myafternoons visiting her as usual.

Fortunately we are blessed with wonderful friends.We (DH and I, and my SIL too) were invited to shareThanksgiving with our friends Pete and Terry, andTerry's parents. Since they live in Georgetown toowe wouldn't have to travel far, and I could still spendthe afternoon with my Mom.

I baked for the occasion since I didn't want to gothere completely empty handed. I made the traditionalpumpkin pie, and a huge bowl of whipped cream,plus I made Raspberry tarts with rice flour caps. See picture above. Fortunately they all turned outgreat.

I say fortunately because I also made sconeson Saturday night to serve to some friends who camefor tea and a visit. Somehow I got the sugar binand the salt bin mixed up when making up the sconebatter.

You can probably imagine the results.

This weeks read was a Jodi Picoult novel, the TenthCircle. This was another of her great "social issue"stories, with an seemingly ordinary family who areunexpectedly thrown into turmoil when tragedystrikes.

Fourteen year old Trixie Stone is an only child, who'sMother Laura works outside the home as a tenuredprofessor at the local University, teaching a course onDante's Inferno. Her father Daniel is a comic bookartist and stay at home parent who has lovingly raisedTrixie and guided her through her young life.

At the start of the book Trixie is going through themotions of her life, attending school, studying,interacting with her parents, while trying to copeafter her boyfriend Jason suddenly decides that theyshould no longer see each other. Trixie is devastatedby this unexpected and unwanted development andis desperate to do anything to get Jason back, at anycost.

But Trixie's efforts to regain Jason's love haveunforeseen consequences for her and when shetells her father that Jason drugged and rapedher it sets a chain of events in motion that threatento tear their family and lives apart.

It seems that everyone in this family has secretswhich are revealed during the course of the story.And Trixie's accusations against Jason, a popularyoung hockey hero in their town, are notbelieved by the majority of the students at herschool, and by the people of the town that theylive in. Her parents choose to support her inspite of the conflicting evidence and findthemselves barely able to contain their ownanger as they fight to suport and protect theirdaughter against the bitter disbelief aroundher.

Jodi Picoult writes a good yarn, and often sheexcels at taking a black and white issue andcarefully pealing back the layers, revealing allthe grey areas that make the expected and theaccepted beliefs that people hold to be notquite that clear cut.

I thought that some of the developments inthe story, most often pertaining to Trixie'sparents and especially to her father's past,were a bit of a distraction from the mainissues in the book, but Picoult is all aboutdeveloping her characters and giving herreaders a deep understanding of why theyact the way they do.

This is the third book that I have read bythis author and I highly recommend her.

*******************************************

Mom remains in quarentine in the Georgetown Hospital.She continues to battle C-Dificile although they seem to haveit more or less under control. It is a difficult infection to getrid of though, and she must test negative for it in threeconsecutive tests before she will be considered clear. Mom is also having issues with medications and the taking ofpills, which has left her with a tendency to be sick to herstomach and has put her right off her food. She's on a liquiddiet right now, which includes soups, jello and yogurt. I fearthat she has probably lost a lot more weight since the C-difinfection began two weeks ago. When will they be able tomove her to a rehab place?? Who knows.

The long weekend is almost over. The weather for the pastfour days has been incredible. More like mid August thenmid October. Hot, sunny weather of the kind we mostcertainly did not have much of this summer. Weird. Hope all my Canadian friends had a wonderful Thanksgivingwith their families and friends.

Tomorrow is Election Day and we get to vote for a newPrime Minister, or vote to keep the old one. With the turmoilin the world right now regarding the economy the pastweeks with the party leaders on the election trail has beeninteresting to say the least. When all is said and done, Isuspect we'll end up with another minority government....but you never know.

It's time to end this post and get ready for bed. Back towork tomorrow. Sigh!! Thank you again for all yourwords of encouragement and support during the pastmonth and a half. I can't tell you how much it's helpedto lift my spirits and make me feel a bit better aboutthings.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

I checked over my stitching last week and discovered that I'dmiscounted on the placement of the bone, and it was off by halfa stitch. I suppose that I could have left it, but it would havetainted my pleasure in this piece when it was done, so I rippedit out and re-stitched it. I am satisfied. My first Lizzie Kateproject. Love the colours in this one.

I started another project from the same Lizzie Kate leafletas Bone Appetit, this one called Bippity Boppity Boo!! Ionly have the lettering and a fancy button to put on thisand it will be done. The same threads used for Bone wereused for this piece as well.

My first time stitching with Weeks Dye Works threads too.Is it my imagination or do you find that these threads frayat the ends and split the thread?? Threading the needlewith them is a real pain. I guess if I use them more oftenI'll get use to them. But I think that I prefer CrescentColours.

I was naughty, and ventured into the world of Ebay a fewweeks ago. I bid on, and won, a pile of Shepherd's Bushand Lizzie Kate charts. They arrived this week and I'vebeen enjoying just looking through them and dreaming.I only have one other Shepherd's Bush chart, also wonon Ebay some time ago, and I'm looking forward tostitching something of theirs.

The Lizzie Kate charts in the pictures above and below werealso a part of this Ebay win. Some of them I will keep tostitch, and others will be passed on. I like that there aredesigns here for both Easter and Christmas, as well as forevery day.

I also ordered some threads from Stitching Bits and Bobsfor various projects (not pictured) and I ordered a fewThreadworx threads as well, just because I love them somuch. Just look at these colours!! I think they are justgorgeous.

The Dinky Dyes chart in the above picture was also apart of this order, and came with the silks needed tostitch the design. A very pretty design. Just hope Ican stretch the threads provided (not complete skeins)to last through the whole design.

Mom is still in the hospital, and has been diagnosed withC-Defacile (pardon spelling) which is an infection thatcauses diarrhea and can be quite serious. She's respondingwell to treatment, but will probably not be allowed tomove to the rehab centre until she is clear of the infection.Since entering hospital at the end of August she has lost14 pounds. The nurses have her out of bed for littlewalks around her room (she's quarantined because ofthe infection) and she sits up in a wheelchair forawhile each day.

I've gotten very behind in my blog visits and commentingthis week because life has been getting in the way, as ittends to do. I developed the cold that my DH passed on tome, and although it hasn't been as bad as some I've had, ithas left me feeling very drained and tired when combinedwith work and trips to the hospital.

And after five weeks of going to visit Mom at the hospitalevery night, or day in the case of weekends, my DH hassuggested that it's time to cut back a bit, before I end upin hospital with her. So reluctantly I've agreed to startgoing every other night during the week. We'll have tostart doing that anyways when she's moved to Rehabbecause it'll be too far to go to every night.

This is the draw back of being an only child....or one ofthem. There is no one else to share the visiting with. Ifeel sick about Mom not having someone visiting herevery day, knowing how long and tedious those dayscan be. And being sick I'm taking a chance visiting heras it is, although I don't go near her, keep my facecovered, and use the hand sanitizer religiously.

Adding to the stress, I've applied for a job opening atwork which would make me officially full time. Rightnow I'm working full time hours while being secondedto a position while someone is on maternity leave. Ihad an over the phone interview today. Was mybrain functioning enough to handle something likethat?? Ha! Do I really care?? Not so much.

Last week I chose to read a book based on Egyptianhistory which was a wonderful, well written, wellresearched read. I saw Michelle Moran's book Nefertitimentioned on several blogs this summer and it soundedgood, and received good reviews, so I added it to myTBR pile. And it lived up to expectations.

Many of us know about Nefertiti because of the magnificentbust that was found many years ago of her. She was theconsort of, and may have been crowned Pharaoh alongsideher husband Amunhotep. She was greatly beloved of theEgyptian people and adored by her husband.

The book tells of the lives of both Nefertiti, and of heryounger half sister Mutnodjmet who are the daughtersof Ay, a powerful vizier in service to Pharaoh. Nefertitiis married to the young, arrogant Amunhotep and soonbecomes adored by the Egyptian people for her beautyand her charismatic style. As ambitious for power asshe is beautiful Nefertiti strives to hold her husbandsaffection and his favour, while diverting his attentionfrom any and all rivals.

Mutnodjmet, by comparison, is not the great beautythat her sister is, but is keenly observant and intelligent.She does not desire power or wealth, but wishes only tofind a home and a life of her own, preferably away fromthe increasingly dangerous and unstable rule ofAmunhotep.

Mutnodjmet falls in love with a general in Pharaoh'sarmy, but their union is opposed by Amunhotep whofears and hates the army, and by Nefertiti who wishesto keep her sister close by her side to help her stablizeand bolster her position. Torn, Mutnodjmet mustchoose between the expectations and responsibilitesof loyalty to her family, or to fight for the life that shedesires and the man that she loves.

This is one juicy read. A fascinating time in Egypt'shistory, when the obsessive dreams of one manthreatened to destroy a nation, and the intrigues andpower struggles within the court were as complex asthe moves in a deadly game of chess.

Michelle Moran has filled her book with richlydetailed descriptions of life during that time period,which adds greatly to the narritive and she bringsthat world to life on every page. I enjoyed this onevery much and look forward to reading her next bookwhich is called The Heritic Queen. Oh boy!!

My first mammogram experience turned out to be a positiveone. I had a great technition who explained everything to mebefore we got started and who was thorough but quick aspossible during the procedure. I got a clean bill of health asa result of the test, and don't have to go back for two years.

As Cathey might say, the girls got a bit of a workout, and therewere a few moments of discomfort but I gritted my teeth andgot through it. And the piece of mind is worth the price.

A shout out to Dani who did the Run for the Cure onSunday. She RAN the entire race and raised over $700.00for Breast Cancer research. Congratulations Dani!!

Deb, L.J. Smith has written many books for Young Adultsand about 10 years ago I read a series that she wroteabout Vampires. I enjoyed them but they were fairlylight reading. The stories in the book that I just gotappear to be better written, judging by the quick flickthat I did through the book before putting it in theTBR pile downstairs. We'll see if they live up tofirst impressions when I do read them.

As you can see I've decorated for Autumn. These arepictures from the livingroom. It's been cool around hereduring the past few weeks, and we may see frost tonight.But by the weekend it may warm up to almost 70 degrees.That would be so nice. A bit of Indian Summer.

Thank you everyone for your kind remarks aboutCottage Garden. They are very much appreciated.